WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Junior Chris Wallace (Randallstown, Md./Calvert Hall) cut back to the lane and senior David Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa./Communications Tech) bounced a pass inside two defenders to him. Wallace rose up and banked in the jumper with 22 seconds left and the Lycoming College men's basketball team stood tall defensively on Alvernia University's final possession to post an 86-85 win in MAC Commonwealth action at Lamade Gym on Tuesday night, Dec. 13.
 
After Alvernia (5-3 overall, 2-2 MAC Commonwealth) called its final timeout, it held for the last shot, and with senior Willie Kee (Baltimore, Md./Parkville) guarding Alvernia's leading scorer tightly, the ball went off the Alvernia player's foot and into the waiting arms of freshman Ronald Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King) with five seconds left and the Warriors (8-1 overall, 4-0 MAC Commonwealth) were able to get the remaining time to tick away.
 
The Warriors rallied from down five points with 3:26 left, when its defense began to clamp down, as Alvernia missed its final three shots from the field. Freshman Damani Myers (Baldwin, N.Y./St. Mary's) drove in for a layup to make it 83-80 with 3:16 left and senior Nyk King (Harlem, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science & Math) fought through traffic to hit a layup with 2:19 left to make it a one-point game.
 
The Crusaders' Marquis Marshall hit a pair of free throws with 1:40 left to make it 85-82, but King again answered with a reverse layup with 1:21 left before Alvernia missed with an off-balance 3-pointer on its next possession, setting up Wallace's game-winner.
 
The two teams fought through three ties and five lead changes in the second half before the final moments, with Lycoming getting its largest lead of the game with 14:37 left after an old-fashioned 3-point play by Wallace. The Crusaders answered back with two 3-pointers and tied the game by the 13:18 mark and neither team was able to get a lead of more than four points until Steve Pendleton hit a 3-pointer to make it 83-78 with 3:26 remaining.
 
Each team played well in the first half, with both shooting better than 50 percent from the field, as Alvernia hit 11 from downtown in the period to take a 41-38 lead into the break. In a half with four ties and four lead changes, the Crusaders made a push late in the half with a 14-2 run to take a 41-34 lead with 1:10 left in the period.
 
The Warriors got a second-chance 3-pointer Kee and a free throw from Jefferson cut the lead back to three points at the break.
 
The Warriors used a seven-point run to take a 28-21 lead with 7:43 left, with fastbreak layups from Wallace and junior Alex Newbold (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic) punctuating the run. However, the Crusaders began their run to take the lead just two minutes later.
 
Lycoming took a 12-6 lead early in the period before Alvernia answered with three triples, two from Marquis Marshall and one from Reid Hoff to get back into lead.
 
Wallace led the Warriors with 19 points, five rebounds and three steals, as Lycoming shot 51 percent (32-of-63) for the game. King added 17 points, five rebounds and three assists and Myers posted 13 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Jefferson added 12 points, four rebounds and two steals and Johnson added 10 points and three assists.
 
Newbold finished with three points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals and Kee added six points and three assists.
 
Marshall led the Crusaders with 34 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and a block and both Mike Miller and Pendleton each added 18 points, as Alvernia shot 50 percent (27-of-54) from the floor and 51 percent (19-of-37) from 3-point range. Hoff posted six points and six assists.
 
Lycoming won the battle inside, posting a 40-26 advantage on the glass, which led to a 15-0 advantage on second-chance points and 42-14 in the paint.
 
The Warriors get back on the court on Friday, Dec. 16, when they host Nazareth at 8 p.m. in non-conference action at Lamade Gym.